Community schools reap the rewards

Dubai: Education as a not-for-profit investment has seen its dividends in Dubai. Though few in number, community schools have carved a niche for themselves in the education landscape of Dubai that is largely dominated by private institutions with a strong profit motive.

The Indian High School in Dubai, one of the oldest community schools in the country, is a unique success story. The spirit of service to society has enabled the school to grow into a centre of excellence offering quality and affordable education to more than 8,000 students.

The school that charges an average of Dh4,000 in tuition fees annually has received a ‘good' rating in the latest round of school inspections by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA).

Humble beginnings

Mohan Valrani, the founding chairman of Indian High School, says it is the motivation to serve the community for a noble cause that works the magic for a not-for-profit school. "The school was started 50 years ago from the one-bedroom apartment of a lady called Hemkala Benbhatia. Then a group of 35 businessmen who formed the board of trustees contributed Dh10,000 each to develop the school with the sheer objective of offering quality education to the Indian community in Dubai," said Valrani who is also the chairman of the Al Sharavi Group of companies in Dubai.

But what is the economics of running a not-for-profit school? According to him, such schools are not under pressure to declare dividends to shareholders. "We do have some excess cash generation. When we say not for profit-making, what we mean is not for profit generation. We do not share the profits but we plough them back into the school. As a result we keep upgrading the school without worrying about declaring the dividends to shareholders," said Valrani.

He says the school gets the time, expertise and know-how of consultants as a voluntary service which otherwise would cost millions.

The board of trustees is replicating the model in the new International Indian School coming up in the Silicon Oasis by next academic year. Built at an expected cost of about Dh100 million, Valrani said the trust is self-sufficient to take the project to completion. He also divulged the trust's plan to expand to other emirates in future. "I have been making money all my life. You have to reach a point when you have to give back to society," the businessman summed up his philosophy on spending time and money on not-for-profit ventures.